BlawgConomics

Libertarianism has created some excitement among the American masses recently in lock-step with the perception that government interference in citizens' lives is on the rise. However, opponents like to point out that libertarianism…

I have spoken unfavorably about Obamacare many times on this page. While I didn't like the voting process related to it, the forced coverage language or the taxes and the rising costs that would necessarily be associated…

I had to make a quick stop into the office this morning. Unfortunately, part of the Metro system I would have taken was closed. Fear not dear readers - this was due to weekend track work, not a lesser-reported government…

Via Solum, I learn that my (part-time) colleague Les Green's (long-gestating) paper on "Law and the Causes of Judicial Decision" is finally on SSRN (it will appear in final form in Green's forthcoming collection of papers from OUP). I have…

Colorado Common Law

A Vaughn index is a tool used in public records disputes where the person requesting documents, will ask the court to compel the records custodian to list all responsive documents and explain why or why not the documents should be released.…

It appears a sad new trend in Colorado is to create policies or laws, treating homelessness as a criminal condition. A new report, “No Right to Rest: Criminalizing Homelessness in Colorado” which details the efforts cities and…

The City of Denver is working on banning people it considers nuisances from high traffic areas. And does not appear there is much concern in the community about the practice. Well, I have a big problem with the practice and I will argue…

Dorf on Law

by Michael DorfAmidst the furor over dentist Walter Palmer's killing of Cecil the Lion, on Wednesday a New York trial court judge ruled against the Nonhuman Rights Project's habeas corpus action on behalf of two chimpanzees--Hercules and…

by Michael DorfAs I noted earlier in the week, on Tuesday I was one of the panelists for the Practicing Law Institute's all-day Supreme Court Review session. Many interesting topics were discussed. Here I want to consider one set of them: The…

by Neil H. BuchananToday, Verdict published Part Two of my two-column series analyzing the Greek/euro disaster. Part One, published on Tuesday, was devoted mostly to describing the simple economics of the situation, as well as the…

Federalist Society - University of Washington Chapter

This is an encouraging sign. The freedom to worship whatever God we find most pleasing is perhaps the most fundamental freedom; it signifies freedom of thought. The fact that Iraqis are now free to worship Jesus if the mood strikes them…

Saw an interesting post over on The Volokh Conspiracy about a first dip into a murky 5th Amendment issue - can the gov't compel a suspect to enter a computer password? A man was detained at the Vermont-Canada border on suspicion of…

The Supreme Court's grant of cert. in DC v. Heller reminded me of an entertaining article on the Supreme Court's last Second Amendment ruling in 1939. I recommend Brian Frye, The Peculiar Story of United States vs. Miller, NYU Journal of Law…

Third Annual Executive Branch Review ConferenceAfter delegating significant power to the administrative state, is Congress properly discharging its oversight role? Are there tools available to Congress that are underutilized? Would a proper…

Third Annual Executive Branch Review ConferenceIn administrative law the focus has primarily been on how to constrain executive discretion. It may, however, be equally important to consider how to constrain the delegations that create that…

JOURNAL NEW ISSUE ANNOUNCEMENT: Global jurist: Special Issue Law and Boundaries 2014

A new special issue of Global Jurist has just been published: this special issue collects some of the most interesting papers presented during the conference: "Law and Boundaries 2014".Click here for the table of content of this issue.

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: Thomson on The Nobile Officium: The Extraordinary Equitable Jurisdiction of the Supreme Courts of Scotland

Stephen Thomson,The Nobile Officium: The Extraordinary Equitable Jurisdiction of the Supreme Courts of ScotlandAn ambitious new text has just been published on the nobile officium – the extraordinary equitable jurisdiction of the…

The Society of Legal Scholars invites applications from members for the editorship of its prestigious journal Legal Studies.The Society is looking for an editorial team or individual editor who can build on the successof both the present…

James Ming Chen, Sinking, Fast and Slow: Bifurcating Beta in Financial and Behavioral Space, available at http://bit.ly/SinkingFastSlow or http://ssrn.com/abstract=2629541: Modern portfolio theory accords symmetrical treatment to all…

Tail risk — of a radically different variety James Ming Chen, The Promise and the Peril of Parametric Value-at-Risk (VaR) Analysis, available at http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=2615664 or http://bit.ly/ParametricVaR: Leptokurtosis, or the…

James Ming Chen, Legal Signal Processing, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2614273 or http://bit.ly/DigitalSignalProcessing: It makes more economic sense to prepare for disaster in advance than it does to stage heroic relief efforts…

"A Comprehensive Theory of Civil Settlement" Forthcoming, NYU Law Review, April 2016 J.J. PRESCOTT, University of Michigan Law School KATHRYN E. SPIER, Harvard University - Law School - Faculty, National Bureau of Economic Research…

"The Economics of Disaster Relief" Amsterdam Center for Law & Economics Working Paper No. 2015-01 Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2015-25 GIUSEPPE DARI‐MATTIACCI, University of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Center for Law…

Josh Zingher on social group membership and the evolution of political partie

Josh Zingher has posted his paper “An Analysis of the Changing Social Bases of American Political Parties: 1952-2008″ on SSRN. Josh is is a Doctoral Candidate in Political Science at Binghamton University. His research…

From Margaret Carlson at Bloomberg View: Obama hearted “Cards” just a few weeks ago when he took aside Netflix Inc. Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings at a White House meeting of technology gurus to discuss problems with…

If you download this paper, it will change your life — I mean, it will if you believe in the whole ‘Butterfly Effect’ phenomenon …. My co-author, Scott Boddery, recently posted our paper “Do Policy Messengers…

thewildcatuk:
Today I’ve been hosted on the LawyerFair daily podcast, run by the great Andrew Weaver. I’ve been ranting on the connections between Music and Law for about 10 minutes. If you make it to the end you can hear me…

The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Law, Liberty and State: Oakeshott, Hayek and Schmitt on the Rule of Law by David Dyzenhaus & Thomas Poole. Here is a description: Oakeshott, Hayek and Schmitt are associated with a conservative…

Download of the Week: &quot; ‘Abstract Endangerment,’ Two Harm Principles, and Two Routes to Criminalization&quot; by Duff &amp; Marshall

The Download of the Week is ‘Abstract Endangerment,’ Two Harm Principles, and Two Routes to Criminalization by R. A. Duff & S. E. Marshall . Here is the abstract: We need to distinguish, as theorists too often fail to distinguish,...

Tom W. Bell (Chapman University, The Dale E. Fowler School of Law) has posted Outgrowing Copyright: The Effect of Market Size on Copyright Policy on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Does copyright protection offer the best means of stimulating…

Nexus

RUNNING ON EMPTY: CALIFORNIA IMPOSES FIRST EVER MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS

On Wednesday, April 1, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown issued Executive Order B-29-15[1], the first action to mandate mandatory water restrictions in California’s history[2]. The order directs the State Water Resources Control Board to…

GIBSON V. AMERICAN CYANAMID: HOW WISCONSIN’S RISK CONTRIBUTION RULE OPENS THE DOOR TO LIMITLESS RETROACTIVE LIABILITY FOR LEAD PAINT MANUFACTURERS

In 1997, Ernest Gibson and his family moved into a rental home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[1] The home, built in 1919, contained deteriorated paint comprised of white lead carbonate pigment[2]—a toxic chemical compound that can impair a…

Every aspiring lawyer knows that in order to become a licensed and practicing attorney (in every state but Wisconsin), they must endure three long and tedious years of law school, and then face their greatest, most daunting challenge yet-…

Chairman Schapiro announced yesterday that she will be stepping down as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in several weeks. Accompanying her announcement, was a nine-page list of her accomplishments during her nearly…

There has been a lot of speculation about whether Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren will get a seat on the Senate Banking Committee, a perfect forum to go after the financial industry. If Ms. Warren does get the coveted spot, she may...

Psychology of Law and Criminal Behavior

An irresponsible person can attempt to counsel another person on how to be responsible; but this just isn’t likely to end up successfully. How can anyone teach someone to be something if that person doesn’t even practice what he…

Emotional Extremes Of A Criminal Not Necessarily An Emotional Disorder

A lot of criminals or social offenders are characterized by quick changes in their moods, from extremely high to extremely low. These changes in moods can happen frequently — even within a single day of a criminal’s life. He or…

One can take many different stances when asked to determine the causes of criminal activity. One area of research that has been gaining popularity views crime as a product of the culture or subculture to which one belongs, rather than…

I may have a limited imagination, but it never occurred to me that anyone would deny that the murders in Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church were racially motivated. I did not even think Fox News could be so clueless.…

70 Years after the War Blessed are the peacemakers – Now especially, peace must not depend upon weapons To our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and to All Who Wish for Peace The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan issued messages…

The Zapato Is on the Other Foot: Argentine Court to Hear Case on Spanish Human Rights Violation

In an interesting turn of events, via IPS News, Spanish human rights violations during the Franco-era are being heard in an Argentine court. According to the article, “One of the plaintiffs is 91-year-old Darío Rivas, who is seeking…

The Zapato Is on the Other Foot: Argentine Court to Hear Case on Spanish Human Rights Violation

In an interesting turn of events, via IPS News, Spanish human rights violations during the Franco-era are being heard in an Argentine court. According to the article, “One of the plaintiffs is 91-year-old Darío Rivas, who…

Workplace Wellness Programs under the ACA: Drawing the Line between Effective Health Incentives and Employer-Imposed Infringement

By: Patrick Tyler, Albany Government Law Review As part of the new requirements for employer-provided health plans, the Affordable Care Act (hereinafter, “ACA”) allows employers to offer employees incentives worth up to fifty…

The US embargo of Cuba began in 1960, a year after Fidel Castro turned this island toward communism. It was extended to food and medicines in 1962, the same year as the showdown with Russia over the installation of missiles there. The embargo…

Individual Mandate: 2 Lawyers Debate Constitutionality: Introduction.
First of three articles I have the privilege to write for Medscape to cover the healthcare lawsuit argued topics. Note, you may have to do a free sign up to access the…

A Certain Appeal || Gulf Coast Business Review | Tampa Bay, Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples.
Interesting read on the background of a friend, Solicitor General Scott Makar. I believe at this point he is the longest serving Florida…

Tools, Oracles, Genies and Sovereigns: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Government

I have a new paper with the above title up on SSRN. This was a difficult paper to write but enjoyable in the end. Download it (twice, and tell your friends and acquaintances and even people you don't know about...

Just after noon on June 18, Laurence H. Tribe, the nation’s foremost scholar of constitutional law, fired off an angry and anguished self-defense. “I just finished my roughly half-hour interview on WNYC with Brian Lehrer,”…

With all the media focus on Donald Trump’s antics and the anxiety over the upcoming Republican primary debate, the mainstream media are mostly ignoring the surreal drift of the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s troubles.…

The TransAtlantic Assembly

Blog of American and European Practitioners and Academics on European and American Constitutional Law (with an eye to the European Constitution), International Law, European Law, and Law and Philosophy.

Silvio Berlusconi is a modern dictator. He controls all the most important functions of the state and is THE key player in the private sphere. Modern dictators are characterized by an ability to disguise their authoritarianism through subtle…

Does anyone out there know who Barroso is? More importantly does anybody know what was his best achievement during his four years as President of the European Commission, the highest institution within the EU? Very few will be able to answer…

I have now posted many screen shots of my evidence marshaling software MarshalPlan. A few years ago I posted an extended comment that explained (viz. attempted to explain) the purposes and the theoretical presuppositions of my evidence…

Some Reflections on Localism, Innovation, and Jim Bessen's New Book &quot;Learning by Doing&quot;

I highly recommend Jim Bessen's new book, Learning by Doing: The Real Connection Between Innovation, Wages and Wealth (2015), published by Yale University Press. I was lucky to present alongside Jim at Yale's…

I've written about innovation policy experimentation and about incentives beyond IP, so I was interested in a new working paper posted by Lynne Kiesling and Mark Silberg, Regulation, Innovation, and Experimentation: The Case of Residential…

I highly recommend two recently posted articles on declining innovation incentives for diagnostic tests, particularly due to changes in patentable subject matter doctrine. In Innovation Law and Policy: Preserving the Future of Personalized…

I'm moving blog host, from Typepad to Wordpress. I hadn't expected to go, but Typepad's recent newsletters on their company policies are making me edgy and, having been stung, like many academics, by Ning's recent policy changes (Dropbox…

Spent two days at the invitation of Alan Paterson (Strathclyde) and Richard Susskind discussing legal practice and legal education at Ross Priory, Strathclyde's retreat house on Loch Lomond, which has one of the best views anywhere in…